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Mikerty Sheppard
Mikerty "The Shep" Sheppard is a fictional character on Degrassi: The Next Generation. He was the principal of Degrassi Community School for the Fall term of the 2007-2008 School Year after Daphne Hatzilakos resigned to take care of her seriously ill mother. Prior to his time at Degrassi, he was the principal of Lakehurst Secondary School, until it burned down. His short tenure as principal saw a decrease in funding for education and an increase for school events and the creation of the Degrassi Football Team. Despite his charisma, he was openly biased against unpopular students and obviously sexist; this would force him to take a short leave of absence to go on sensitivity training, with Archibald Simpson as his acting principal. After the return of the more successful and popular principal, Daphne Hatzilakos, for the remainder of the school year, he was permanently removed. He is portrayed by Kevin Jubinville. Character History Season 8 When he first arrived at Degrassi Community School in Uptown Girl (1), "The Shep" portrayed himself as a "cool principal," who wanted to be called by a nickname and have an informal atmosphere at the school, much to the chagrin of several teachers and students. He would later use his position to make Holly J. Sinclair Student Body President, without having elections. However, in Fight the Power, The Shep's true colors began to show. Jane Vaughn wished to join the football team, and seeing there was no girl's team, she would have to be placed on with the boys. This was unpopular with both the Shep and the guys on the team, but they were forced to let her tryout and later join. Even though Jane was a former student of the Shep's at Lakehurst Secondary School, his sexism overcame any connection he would feel with her. He would go on to ignore any bullying that she experienced and openly participate in bringing her down. Eventually Jane would gain the respect she deserved from the majority of the team, forcing the principal to back down. In Causing a Commotion, Clare Edwards confronts him about his favoritism towards jocks and the popular students. In return, he calls Clare a "little bitch." K.C. Guthrie, Alli Bhandari and Clare recorded that for his "Principal of the Year Award" and show it. Then all of the students leave the auditorium, including Jane, who says, "You know why" (because when Jane joined the boys football team, he let the boys beat her up). The students then tear down the banner in his honor while repeatedly chanting, "NO MORE SHEP!". He is later sent to sensitivity training, with Mr. Simpson as acting principal. In Jane Says (1), he has returned from his training. It is immediately obvious that he has become more sensitive at school, but an old part of his sexist ways showed through when he says, "If Jane is not here she will -- I mean, we will miss her very much." While Holly J. is having issues with Ms. Dawes's art assignment in Up Where We Belong she asks the Shep for his opinion, and initially he likes Holly J.'s art better. However, when he finds out that Ms. Dawes gave Blue Chessex an A on his assignment, he changes sides, stating that they have to defer to the teachers when it comes to their subjects. Season 9 He was seen congratulating Mia Jones about her modeling contract in Just Can't Get Enough. When Daphne Hatzilakos returned in Season 9, he lost his job as principal and is not seen again, which pleased a vast majority of the students. Appearances Trivia *The Shep was the first Degrassi Community School principal not to be a main character. The second was Deirdre Pill. *The Shep is the only principal who didn't have a student die during his tenure. *He is the first character to call Clare Edwards a bitch. The second is Mark Fitzgerald. *He has shown to dislike students who aren't jocks. *He called the gifted class "weird". *He had a conflict with Jane Vaughn and Clare Edwards. Category:Degrassi: The Next Generation Category:Degrassi: TNG characters Shep, The Category:Male Characters Category:Minor Character Category:Principal Category:Season 8 Category:Season 9